Assistant Coach
Hometown: Fort Cobb, OK
Record at UWG:
A familiar face returns to the West Georgia sideline for the 2004-05 season in assistant coach Wendi Willits. Willits expertise and patience was key in last seasons turnaround from a 0-9 team to a Gulf South Conference tournament participant.
Willits’ credentials as a player are more than impressive, both on and beyond the collegiate level. She was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter for the University of Arkansas. As a freshman, she helped the Lady Razorbacks to the school’s only trip to the NCAA Final Four.
Also, Willits played one season professionally, helping the Los Angeles Sparks to the 2001 WNBA Championship. Willits’ collegiate career is well documented in the Arkansas records book. Three times she led the Lady Razorbacks in scoring. She holds school records for most three-point shots made and attempted for a career, season, and game. The latter came when Willits made nine from beyond the arc in a 1999 game vs. Georgia.
Willits also holds Arkansas school records for most consecutive three-point shots made (12), and for consecutive made free throws (25). The ability of Willits to hit from long-range led to two special honors. In 1999 she was chosen by the Basketball Hall of Fame as its Ed Steitz Award winner. Named for the man who brought the three-point shot rule change to the game, the Steitz is given to the nation’s top three-point shooter. Also, following her senior year in 2001, she was a contestant in the ESPN Three-Point Shootout at the NCAA Men’s Final Four.
A two-time All-SEC selection at guard, Willits also earned honors for her work in the classroom. The Kinesiology major earned a berth on the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll during each of her four seasons at Arkansas.
A native of Fort Cobb, Okla., Willits replaces Rena Holden on the UWG staff. Holden resigned last month to accept a job on the coaching staff at, coincidentally, Arkansas.